Dept of Research Centers

Superintendent:

Ken Kephart

Website Development:

Kent McVay

Southern Agricultural Research Center

"Serving the Land Grant Mission in South Central Montana"

Introduction

Each year variety trials are conducted to evaluate publicly available as well as experimental crop varieties across the state
for the grain and forage producers of Montana. According to the USDA National Agricultural Statistics Service, in 2015 Montana farmers produced more than 5 million acres of wheat valued at $960 million.
Barley was grown on 970 thousand acres, valued at $270 million. And more than 2.5 million acres of hay was harvested representing nearly $584 million in revenue.

Choosing a modern high yielding and disease resistant variety that is adapted to your growing environent is one of the best
management decisions you can make. A 30% yield difference between the best and the worst variety typically occurs at any given location
in most any year, and these trends are repeatable over time. This website is designed to help you easily choose an appropriate variety
for your unique environment.

Thanks to the Montana Agricultural Experiment Station

Variety trial research is a coordinated effort conducted each year on University research farms and at Agricultural Research Centers located around the state of Montana. This work is accomplished by the plant breeders and their staffs located in the Deparments of Plant Sciences and Plant Pathology, and Animal and Range Sciences, and by the superintendents and staff at each of the Ag Research Centers.
Certified seed for many of the varieties described here is available through the Montana Seed Growers Association.